View full sizeGrouse Mountain ResortGrizzliesâÂÂ characteristic hump is super-evident in this bear. Their long claws and a dished-out profile on the face are also distinctive when compared with black bears.

By RICH LANDERSTHE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Hike in tight groups in bear country.

Keep food and trash away from bears.

Carry bear spray and know how to use it effectively.

Those three rules are at the heart of a bear awareness program wildlife educators are making an extra effort to spread this year from Yellowstone to the North Cascades.

The Bear Avoidance Training Unit is one of the tools in the effort sponsored by seven of the region's state and federal wildlife-related agencies. The unit's trailer full of posters, videos and bear spray canisters is making stops at sportsman shows and other events throughout the region.

"The campaign has to work against TV, movies and other fantasies that suggest to people that it's OK to approach and feed wildlife," said Chuck Bartlebaugh, of the Missoula-based Center for Wildlife Information.

Bartlebaugh works with grizzly bear managers, studies all the bear incident reports and even tests methods himself.

The reports clearly show that bears generally don't want anything to do with humans, but food will lure them into trouble. Bear storage techniques and electric fencing are effective deterrents.

Bears may quickly attack one or two people to defend their young or a carcass, but in the case of a tight group of four or more people, a bear is less likely to charge.

When all else fails, bear spray is the best tool for getting out of a bear encounter unscathed.

Bear experts are taking a hard look at the investigation of the bear attack on a couple in Yellowstone National Park last summer resulting in the park's first grizzly-caused fatality in 25 years. A second fatality there followed in the next month.

The first victim was a 57-year-old man from Torrance, Calif., who was killed in July while hiking with his wife. The second was a man from Michigan, hiking solo in the park in August.

Bartlebaugh summarized the analysis of the findings of the incident involving the California couple:

"The hikers knew there were bears around and seemed to ignore the recommended precautions," he said. "Instead of leaving the area immediately when they knew bears were around, there are indications they may have gotten closer.

"When the bear saw them, they initially hid, causing more anxiety in the bear that knew something was amiss but didn't know what.

"They yelled in a panicky tone, which evokes chase responses in a bear. Best to talk is firm but calm voice.

"The woman ran, which is a well-documented way to trigger pursuit from grizzlies and other predators.

"Bears charge to protect their young or defend a carcass, but as they're charging they're gathering information about how they want that charge to end. If those hikers had been backing off slowly and called out in a surer, calmer voice, the bear may have stopped and retreated. A bluff charge is a very common scenario.

"If the bear keeps coming, drop to the ground face down. The man in Yellowstone fought back. That's recommended against a black bear, but it's not what you want to do to a grizzly bear. That excites the bear even more. In most cases, grizzly bears don't set out to deliberately kill a person. They just want to stop the threat. The man fought back; the bear killed him."

The bottom line: The couple likely could have avoided the bear encounter.

But once the encounter was made, "Bear spray may have helped the couple hold their ground and be more calm rather than run and yell," Bartlebaugh said. "That alone may have stopped the confrontation."

People who venture into bear country should plan ahead for the moment they need to use bear spray, Bartlebaugh says.

He teaches a procedure and technique that boil down to this:

Carry bear spray in a holster readily accessible on a pack strap or belt.

If bear spray must be deployed, use two hands and shoot a burst on the ground in front of the bear to form a cloudlike, billowing barrier; most bears will not want to penetrate that barrier, Bartlebaugh said.

Firearms can be effective in a bear attack, but they also can wound and provoke a bear into a killing frenzy, Bartlebaugh added. Making a fatal shot on a charging bear is very difficult even for an experienced shooter, according to a study of Alaska bear encounters.

Bear spray is much easier to aim and fire effectively, that study showed. Still, people must understand how to do it, Bartlebaugh said.

"In tests to see how people would use bear spray, we gave cans to 50 people and had them aim and spray as though a bear were out in front of them. In almost every test, the force of the propellant pivoted the can in their hand so the spray was going into the air above the target.

"While they were shooting into the sky disabling birds and butterflies, a bear would go right under the cloud unaffected," Bartlebaugh said. "That's why we recommend that most people use both hands when using bear spray.

"If you wait too long and just spray into the bear's face, it's more likely to keep coming and make contact."

REI sells Counter Assault bear spray for $45.95; the holster is an additional $12.95. Remember that you can't take full-size cans of bear spray on airplanes.

2011: a bad year for bear encounters

Last season was a grim year for grizzly bear incidents in the Northern Rockies from Idaho to Wyoming -- 83 incidents involved grizzlies conflicting with humans or their property.

75 percent of those incidents occurred in Yellowstone National Park. 25 percent occurred in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem. 70 percent of the people charged by grizzlies were not carrying bear spray, including two hikers killed in Yellowstone, plus the hunter killed in Montana by an illegally shot and wounded grizzly. 80 percent of charges by an uninjured grizzly resulted in no injuries to the humans. 38 percent of the grizzly charges involved hunters. 35 percent of the grizzly charges involved hikers. 27 percent of the grizzly charges involved anglers, campers and ranch hands and other backcountry workers.